Big cities all have their share of big challenges, and dealing with sewage is a seriously big job. In the mid-1990s, in order to reduce nitrogen loading in Hong Kong’s Tolo Harbour, local governments began implementing a Tolo Harbour Effluent Export Scheme (THEES). One of the drainage tunnels in this system was recently inspected for the first time by BC based SewerVUE Technology Corporation.

When we think of the French Alps, we think of beautiful villas, picturesque mountains, and decadent pleasures like chocolate, cheese and wine. But the Inuktun Europe (IE) team recently visited the area for a completely different endeavor. Responding to an invitation from EDF Energy, IE’s Technical Manager, Russell Fraser, and Business Development Manager, Julien Massé, travelled to an area near the Bournillon power plant in the French Alps to perform a penstock pipe inspection. Using the Versatrax 150™ system, they successfully demonstrated the crawler’s capabilities by driving the vehicle over a total distance of 160 metres, including maneuvering through a pipe branch at 100 metres, and climbing slippery slopes of up to 22 degrees.

When we think of hydro companies, we think of our equipment being used in tunnels, penstocks and pipes crossing rivers. But it turns out there is another big inspection need: high voltage transmission conduits. Because these conduits are heavily lubricated in order to pull cable through, gaining enough traction for a remotely operated vehicle to inspect up to the 1.2 kilometre lengths proves challenging.

Well known company Pacific Gas & Electric recently customized their Versatrax 300 crawler with an Inuktun manipulator to retrieve potentially harmful debris from a pipe during an inspection in California.

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